After 248 trading days in bear market territory — the longest bear market since 1948 — the S&P 500 entered a new bull market June 8. Optimism has been driven by softening inflation, a timely deal on the debt ceiling and huge gains in the tech sector, particularly for companies involved in artificial intelligence. According … Continued
Wall Street loves its adages. “Sell in May and go away,” “Don’t catch a falling knife” and “Buy the rumor, sell the news” are just a few examples. Like many sayings, there may be examples of truth in some of these. For example, over the last 25 years, markets have earned on average around +2.10% … Continued
It was an exciting March for college basketball fans, with the annual national tournaments offering no shortage of surprises and great games. It was also an eventful month for markets, with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in just a matter of days, setting off market volatility and an urgent government response. … Continued
In January 2023, the United States added an astounding 517,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate fell to 3.4% — the lowest level since 1969, before the first moon landing. Measures such as GDP growth, retail sales and the ISM services survey all currently point toward healthy consumer spending and a growing economy. While low unemployment, … Continued
It’s been said that any recession taking place in 2023 may be the most expected and anticipated recession in history. The Federal Reserve, forced to hike interest rates at the fastest pace on record in 2022, is setting out to slow down and cool off the economy by design, in order to fight inflation. It’s … Continued
Markets continued their rally from recent lows through October and November but have struggled as we end the year so far through December. Many of the key drivers remain the same, with decades-high inflation forcing the Federal Reserve and central banks around the world to raise interest rates and tighten monetary conditions at a historic … Continued
The S&P 500 saw a healthy rally in October, and at the time of this writing, has continued a strong rebound off of September lows. A main catalyst for this has been a surprise slower-than-expected inflation report for October that drove the S&P 500 up +5% in a single day after it was released. Inflation, … Continued
The S&P 500 ended September at its lowest level for the year, as a miserable year for investors continued with the stock market firmly in bear market territory and the bond market also seeing losses in the mid-teens. Following something of a relief rally through the summer, as investors grappled with whether inflation had peaked … Continued
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has a long history of responsible investing practices, or values-based investing. This dates back to a policy adopted by the General Assembly in 1971. The policy statement included a discussion about investments being “an instrument of mission and includes theological, social and economic considerations.” The basis for this belief is that … Continued
It’s been a strong summer for the markets, with the S&P 500 and especially the NASDAQ stock index rallying through July on news that inflationary pressures throughout the economy may be easing. Even the bond market, which experienced one of its worst first half returns on record, saw modest price gains, as expectations for future … Continued